The sun was setting in the west, and the last ray of light on the horizon faded. The sky gradually darkened.Arabella stood in front of the window and looked at the tall sycamore trees outside. The cool night breeze blew in and she quickly realized that it was autumn already.The wind chimes hanging on the windowsill let out a faint ring with the wind. It was low as if it was telling a certain story.She didn’t know if it was because it was autumn or something else, but she actually felt a little cold.She took her phone and scrolled through the contact list. She found Calvin Galvez’s name and dialed his number.As soon as the call connected, she said, “I agree to marry you.”Her hoarse and slightly cold voice had an inexplicable sadness in this early autumn weather.She now accepted that she would never be able to escape fate. It was the same twenty-three years ago, and it was the same twenty-three years later. This was probably her fate.Calvin Galvez was drinking with a group of bu
Mrs. Fulton was speaking the truth, but her tone was aggressive and arrogant. And there were some people in the room who just couldn’t stand Arabella being bullied.The man’s clear voice rang out diagonally across from her. “Mrs. Fulton, although the Rivera residence is in dire straits, there is still the Grant family. Ara hasn’t even married into the Fulton family and you are already putting on airs as a mother-in-law. If she marries into the Fulton family, wouldn’t she be crying and running to her mother’s house every day?”Mrs. Fulton was speechless. Her words just now had belittled the Rivera family, but she had forgotten that there were still people from the Grant family present. The Fultons were still a far cry from the Grant family.Of course, Benjamin could also hear the sarcasm in Mrs. Fulton’s words so he wasn’t looking too good at the moment either.“Since the Grant family is so capable, why don’t you invest more in the Rivera family? Why do the Rivera have to marry off the
Calvin ignored his outstretched hand and smiled evilly. “You’ve already stolen my girlfriend. How do you expect me to react?”President Fulton choked on his words. “I did not know about the relationship between Ms. Arabella and you beforehand.”Calvin could no longer be bothered with him and looked at Benjamin Rivera. “Mr. Rivera, I’ll visit you again another day, but tonight, I will be taking Arabella with me.”Benjamin was silent, unable to figure out a way to respond without embarrassing himself in front of President Fulton.Although the Fulton family was not big, Benjamin Rivers had been in the business world for many years. He knew that having one more friend meant opening up more than one path, and one less enemy meant one less obstacle to success.Calvin noticed Arabella still seated, so he gave her a look but she was still in a daze and did not react. Calvin was about to go crazy.Shouldn’t she be more focused and cooperate with him?Afraid that others would see through him, h
She thought Benjamin Rivera would continue asking but he simply sipped on the glass of water in his hand and started for the stairs. When he passed her, he paused. “Let’s make an appointment some other day for both parents to meet and then settle your marriage.”As she watched Benjamin walk up the stairs, the smile on Arabella’s face disappeared and she stood there expressionlessly. Her clear eyes were dull but her heart was also unusually calm.In Konan City, Gabriel had just come out of the bathroom in his hotel when he received a text message on his phone. As he wiped the water droplets off his hair, he took his phone and sat down on the sofa. He opened the new text message and his eyes darkened.The message was a single photo of a handsome man and a beautiful woman, the former carefully holding the latter as they walked out of a restaurant. Berlin Restaurant’s signboard was very well-lit with red lights.The angle of the camera was not bad, accurately capturing Arabella’s expressi
Mr. and Mrs. Galvez knew their son’s character well so they didn’t believe him when he said he had a girlfriend. Now that he had brought her back, they were very happy.Although the Rivera residence was not as grandiose as the Galvez residence, Mr. and Mrs. Galvez were not the stuck-up type who insisted that their son marry someone at their level or higher. As long as the girl’s family background was clean and she could control their son, preventing him from messing around outside, Mr. and Mrs. Galvez weren’t too fussy.At the dining table, Calvin Galvez put on a good show – he kept putting food onto her plate, especially her favorites. He even de-shelled the prawns and de-boned the fish for her.When Mr. and Mrs. Galvez noticed how well Calvin and Arabella got along with each other, the parents were filled with joy. Moreover, they could tell that Arabella had a good upbringing and an elegant temperament. The elders had a good impression of her.After the meal, Mrs. Galvez pulled Arab
Calvin called to tell her about his mother invited Helena over for afternoon tea. When she heard this news, Arabella almost threw her phone out. “Isn’t your mother too impatient?”She still remembered Helena having a heart-to-heart talk with her two days ago, saying that though she did not think highly of President Fulton, she was even more worried about Calvin. After all, Calvin had quite a notorious reputation. Even if he got married, it was hard to guarantee that he would not cheat on her.At that time, she told Helena this was her choice and she did not regret it.It was either that or she married someone she didn’t like.Between President Fulton and Calvin Galvez, she chose the latter partly because they were very familiar with each other. At least, she did not have to marry a complete stranger.Ever since she met Arabella, Mrs. Galvez had been nagging Calvin Galvez every day, asking him when he would marry Arabella. His ears were about to grow calluses from listening to her.Cal
He could imagine how calm President Garcia’s tone would be.But Manager Yates was quite unlucky to be reprimanded today.It seemed that President Garcia would be in a bad mood for the next few days, so Caleb had to be more careful than usual to avoid getting himself into trouble.There were still ten days before the engagement but Arabella and Calvin Galvez had agreed to try on the wedding dress one day after work.In order to prevent a repeat of the previous incident, she told Calvin Galvez that he did not need to pick her up. She would drive there herself.After work, she drove to Elisa’s bridal shop. Calvin Galvez arrived two minutes earlier than her so when she got out of the car, she saw him already leaning against the car, talking on the phone.After Calvin Galvez hung up, the two entered the bridal shop together.Immediately, a shop assistant came up to him, turning more cordial when she noticed the brand of his outfit.As soon as he entered the shop, Calvin Galvez sat down on
She stopped struggling and looked at him in surprise. “How did you know?”His dark eyes locked onto her face and he recalled the scene of her trying on the wedding dress – his eyes gradually darkened.“Look at you. You must be happy. But what if I’m not?”Arabella blinked. “President Garcia, why would your happiness be related to mine?”“You have such a terrible tongue.” Daniel leaned in and kissed her, ignoring her struggles as he moved into her space.Arabella could tell that he was angry, but she did not know why.The sudden onset of his wave of anger was terrifying. The more she struggled, the more he clamped down on her.Every kiss he planted on her left a burning sensation until it left a mark on her skin.In just a few minutes, her entire body had gone limp.Her coat hung loosely on her shoulders as she panted slightly, looking at him with flushed cheeks and a hazy look. “You-”One word was all she managed to utter until he stopped her again.They stumbled toward the wash basin
Arabella had been waiting in the parking lot of Zephyr Group since 4 p.m.Afraid that she would be seen by her colleagues, she chose to hide in an inconspicuous corner while keeping her eyes on Daniel’s car.One hour, two hours, three hours passed, but Daniel still did not appear.The sky gradually darkened and the lights in the parking lot were a little dim, making the place gloomy and cold.She wrapped her coat tightly around her body and crouched as if to curl herself into a ball. Since she stayed in that position for quite some time, her legs started to feel a little numb. She decided to stand and walk a few steps to return blood flow to her legs. After stretching for a while, she resumed her crouched position.With the night approaching, the cold in the dim parking lot grew heavier – Arabella started to shiver. She wanted to go home in a huff, but she was also unwilling to do so without having confronted Daniel.What right did he have to treat her like this?Even if he was angry,
When it was the day of the pregnancy checkup, Daniel had not returned from the business trip. She was already expecting to go to the hospital alone only to find someone else in the living room when she came downstairs.“Why are you here?” She looked at Francesca in surprise.“Young Madam, President Garcia asked me to accompany you to the hospital,” said Francesca gently.It seemed that he still remembered the date. Arabella nodded. “Let’s go.”Mrs. Winstead noticed how thin the clothes Arabella was wearing so the former handed the latter a red coat on the hanger at the entrance.How could Arabella refuse Mrs. Winstead’s kind intentions? The former took off her jacket and put on the coat. Then, Arabella grabbed her bag and left the living room with Francesca following behind her.Because Francesca had made an appointment in advance, they went straight to the hospital for the checkup. After a series of examinations, the doctor said, “The child is very healthy. It’s just that you must ha
The phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and saw that it was her calling. He threw the phone on the seat next to him. After a few seconds, the phone stopped ringing.He took out a cigarette and put it into his mouth. His phone rang again. He took a glimpse at it from the corner of his eye and saw that it was still from her.He let it ring and took out a lighter to light the cigarette. He rolled down the window and blew out smoke rings that were carried away by the night wind.When it rang for the third time, he pressed the reject button in frustration and turned off his phone. The night was quiet again.Arabella paced around the room in her pajamas, holding her phone in her hand. She had called Daniel many times, but his phone was eventually switched off.It was already two o’clock in the morning but she was also hesitant to call Caleb since it was too late in the night.She walked to the bed and sat waiting. Her phone was always in her hand, ready to pick up a call the moment it
Master Samson took a single look at her before turning the other way, turning a deaf ear to her words.The pale yellow liquid in the medicine bag flowed down the white tube drop by drop into his bloodstream through the needle on the back of his hand.Arabella didn’t care about Master Samson’s attitude as she silently retreated to the side and stood there. Helena Turner patted her hand lightly, indicating to the former not to take it to heart.The attending doctor listened to Master Samson’s heartbeat with a stethoscope and wrote down a string of numbers in a folder. Then, Benjamin Rivera followed him out of the ward.Master Samson looked at Serenity who was sitting by the bed and holding his hand. “For the sake of your future with Eva, you should remarry John.”The old man had been trying to get Serenity and John back together after returning from Oakland, but his granddaughter had been avoiding him. Because of this, Master Samson had gotten so angry that he was hospitalized.“We won’
While Arabella was stunned for a moment, John took the tissue from her and carefully wiped the water off her sleeves. Then, he pulled out a small part of her inner sleeve over the sleeves of her windbreaker a little so that the wet parts would not stick to her skin.“Are you feeling better?” His clear voice was low and gentle.She pulled her hand back, still feeling the warmth of his fingertips on the skin of her wrist. “Much better.” After a pause, she said, “Thank you, President Grant.”The immediate distance she put between them simply from her words felt as if she had just stabbed John. He pursed his pale lips and difficultly said, “Arabella, we shouldn’t be like this.”“From the moment you decided to marry my Sis, we were already destined to end up like this.” She was unfazed.John held her shoulders and seriously said, “But you know-”“That won’t change the truth!” She interrupted him, though rather calmly which scared John a little.He could see the prideful stubbornness in her
She took a sip from the glass of water. Since they were already married, there would always be a chance for her to meet the aunt in the future.Still, since she was angry at him for acting on his own and Daniel was not someone who would admit his mistake or apologize first, the couple did not speak to each other for the rest of the day – they simply minded their own business and nonchalantly ignored each other.Daniel rested at home for a week before going back to work. Once he did, only Arabella and Mrs. Winstead were left at home.XXXOne day after lunch, Arabella drove to the cafe at which she had agreed to meet Sam.It had been a week since they last met and Sam seemed to have become a lot more dispirited. But when he saw her, his usual cheeky smile returned. “A rich lady is indeed different. I would never dare dream of driving a car like this in my entire life.”Indeed, Arabella was driving a luxury car worth millions. He hadn’t even saved enough money to wed a wife yet. Such was
Julia Silver Garcia looked around the room at the others present before her eyes finally landed on her son in bed. “Such a big thing happened and yet you did not think to tell me and your father?”“Even if I didn’t call you, someone would have informed you.” The corners of Daniel’s lips curled into a mocking smile.Julia didn’t care about his tone. “I heard about what happened this time. You were too impulsive. No matter what, you shouldn’t have risked your own life-”“If you’re here to teach me a lesson, you might as well not come,” said Daniel, interrupting her in a tone devoid of respect.Julia’s expression changed slightly. There were outsiders present, yet he didn’t seem to care.Arabella decided to step in as she said, “Mom, don’t misunderstand. I’m very happy that you came to see him. You know his temper very well. It’s just that he can be a bit cold sometimes.”Unfortunately, Julia didn’t ease up. Mrs. Winstead had called the main residence to inform the Master and Madam of th
A Blatant InvitationHis deep yet bright eyes watched Arabella quietly, reflecting her silhouette. He had spoken with such seriousness that her eyes started to heat up and she had to do her best to suppress the layers of mist forming.Arabella gently held his right hand, her slender fingertips hooked the bandage wrapped around it, and her eyes turned sour.If he had not found her in time, she would probably have lost her life.Daniel used his left hand to caress her pale face. “You must be hungry. Mrs. Winstead sent over black chicken soup this morning. I’ll go get it for you.”He pushed the wheelchair to the table, opened the thermos flask, and poured some chicken soup into a bowl. He held the bowl with his bandaged left hand and pushed the wheelchair back to the bed with his other hand.” It’s still hot.”Arabella received the bowl of soup and took a few sips but did not touch a single piece of chicken.Daniel knew she must not have much of an appetite yet, so he did not force her. I
The Child Is Very HealthyHowever, he now knew that John and Serenity had put on a wedding ring for a fake marriage, so Daniel knew Arabella was referring to them, the young master and young madam of the Rivera family.He untied the wish on the branch, came down from the bamboo ladder, and put it into his suit pocket.The little monk complained, saying, “Why did you take down her wish? It won’t come true like this.”“I will be the one to fulfill all her wishes.” Daniel left this sentence with the monk and entered the temple. He took off his raincoat and threw it to Caleb, who had been following behind him.Caleb and Xeno were stunned by the appearance of the man before them. He was drenched, his black hair was messy, and his trousers below his knees had been soaked in mud and water. His walk was not as strong as usual and the movement of his legs was a little stiff.When they arrived at the guest room, Daniel was already sitting by Arabella’s bedside, his large palm placed on her abdo